Succulents and More™

I’m not much into seasonal decorating because I feel like I just don’t have the eye for it, but there’s one thing I love at this time of year: pumpkins. When I was younger, you had very orange pumpkins and less orange pumpkins. Now you have not only a variety of colors, but also wrinkles, warts, and bumps. Perfect encapsulation of the season, seen at Green Acres in Sacramento The best pumpkin display I’ve seen this year was at the Sacramento location of Green Acres , a family-owned garden center chain. The sheer number of pumpkins, and the variety, was beautiful to behold: And pumpkins at Costco (best price, of course): I did get a net of small pumpkins at Costco and set up a modest display near the front door: Costco pumpkins and Mangave ‘Bad Hair Day’ in a face pot Maybe next year I should try to grow some ornamental pumpkins? They do take up a good chuck of real estate, but I should be able to find a sunny corner somewhere. If you grow your own pumpkins, please share your experien...

Another month (half gone already!), another “This and that” post covering random sights and happenings since the end of September. Change is definitely in the air. Not just in the weather, but also in the quality of light. Daytime temperatures are still comfortable (highs in the 70s), and the light is much warmer than in the summer. All things considered, it’s a wonderful time of year. MY ATTEMPT AT SEASONAL DECORATION I have no natural knack for decorating, which is probably why I rarely even try. But this year, I’m making a bit of an attempt. Check out the wooden crate on the left: I was given a face pot a while ago, and I filled it with a Mangave ‘Bad Hair Day’. The five mini pumpkins came from Costco. Maybe I’ll splurge on a larger pumpkin or two... LATE-AFTERNOON GLOW It seems no “This and that” post is complete without a couple of late-afternoon photos of the front yard. I do love how the sun lights up the plants: SEDUCTIVELY FUZZY, POTENTIALLY PAINFUL I noticed this prickly pea...

At the end of July, I had the opportunity to visit Micro Paradox , a tissue-culture lab north of Sacramento, with my volunteer group from the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. I learned so much that I arranged for a similar tour for the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (SCSS). I expected a fair amount of interest, but I was blown away by how many people actually showed up: 22! Some traveled 1½ hours one-way. SCSS group in front of Micro Paradox building, VP Simran Randhawa on the left under the handicap parking sign Micro Paradox VP Simran Randhawa gave us an overview of what happens in the tissue-culture lab. (I won’t repeat what I already said in my previous Micro Paradox post — you can read it here .) After we finished in the lab, Simran led us through the greenhouses (for young plants just leaving the TC lab) and shade houses (for slightly larger plants being acclimated to the outdoor environment). Micro Paradox has 125,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse and shade house space an...